Sunday, January 5, 2014

Home by another way

January 5, 2015

Dear Friends,

While delightful and full of blessing, the holidays have left me somewhat weary. A friend suggested that I conserve my remaining energy by shortening today's blog to wishing my readers a "Happy New Year," signing off, then taking a nap. Initially, I was tempted to do just that, but then I thought that while I do indeed hope that the coming year brings happiness to you, I want to say something quite different than "Happy New Year." I want to say "May your new year be marked by a wonderful, green growing season in which you learn all over again the richness of Epiphany."

I have chosen instead to share with you in turn a portion of a prayer a friend forwarded to me.

“And having been warned in dream not to return to
Herod, they [the Wise Ones] left for their own country by another
road.” Matthew 2:12 (NRSV)

God of dreams and desires, in this sacred season you reach to the
world in rhythms beyond the rational. An angel comes to Mary, Elizabeth
feels a child quicken within her, Joseph has a dream, and the Wise Ones
follow a star.

We who worship at the altar of the linear and the rational easily
dismiss these gentle beats of eternity and bombard the ancient stories
with questions and analyses and doubts and thoughts. We empty the
stories of their mystery. Caught in a desire to understand, we forget
that you are known in ways beyond thinking. You are heard as much in
silence as in speech. You are present in dreams and visions.

Draw us to quiet our hyperactive minds and rest in the quiet that
opens a place for you deep within.

Draw us to Sabbath rest; releasing
what we so desperately want to control, setting aside what we are driven
to accomplish, stopping our busyness with things that are important but
not more important than seeking you. Remind us that we are human
beings and not human doings
.
We would sit with the ancient stories and mine their tender wisdom.
With Mary we would receive the message of the angels, all the while
arguing with ourselves that such beings do not exist… With Joseph we
would receive our dreams as gifts from the place deep within where holy
insight unfolds. With the Wise Ones we would look for the light that
shines in the darkness and find our way to You once again.

The world has already forgotten about Christmas–a distant memory of a
time too busy and filled with too much. In the stores Christmas is
half price and the fireworks of the New Year have drowned out the sounds
from the manger.

And the hungry are still hungry. The homeless are still homeless.
The wars are still raging. The planet still cries out in need. The gap
between the rich and the poor is an ever widening river. All that was
broken before Christmas is still broken.. . . .

But still… the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not
overcome it. This promise is renewed in us and for us and through us;
the gift of the season is offered once again as a reminder that we are
not alone, that our striving toward your dream for a world of shalom is
not finally a pipe dream but a promise.

As we linger in the ancient stories for just a few more days, not
quite ready to let go of the season, waiting for the gift of Epiphany
which is your revealing once again, may we take courage for the work
that is ours, rest for the journey that is ahead, sustenance that is
found at the table where bread is broken and wine is freely poured. And
finding in the home that you make in the world through the Christ, may
we, like the Wise Ones of old, find our way home by another way; the way
that is your way, the way that is shared by all people of faith, the
way that is your Shalom.